In addition to facing life in prison, Sean “Diddy” Combs could lose the assets he’s built up while becoming a music mogul, including his mansions, cars, a private jet and even his Bad Boy Records label.
Diddy, whose trial started this month, has been charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution.
He has also been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, also known as RICO, which means he could lose any of his assets deemed to have been used while committing a crime.
Diddy has been the subject of dozens of lawsuits since his ex, Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura filed a lawsuit accusing the rapper of years of abuse and rape in November 2023.
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And while he has denied all of the accusations and charges against him as he goes into trial, his legal team has hired a consultant – a federal prosecutor, who is an expert on federal asset forfeiture law after spending 30 years in the Department of Justice specializing in asset forfeiture and money laundering.
“RICO forfeiture is intended to be very broad, and so it has significant consequences,” Stefan Cassella told USA Today, adding that he couldn’t go into specifics of Diddy’s case because of his involvement as a consultant. “So, it’s going to boil down to what they can prove was part of the enterprise.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Cassella for comment.
What assets of Diddy’s could be seized?
Last year, Forbes said it conservatively estimated Diddy’s net worth to be around $400 million, saying his fortune had fallen along with his reputation after he was once poised to become a billionaire.
The mogul owns several homes in the U.S., including a nearly $40 million home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Holmby Hills, another one he bought near Los Angeles in Toluca Lake for $5.25 million, two side-by-side waterfront homes on Miami Beach’s Star Island that he paid $35 million and $14.5 million for, as well as a nearly $3 million Miami condo, according to Realtor.com.
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He also sold a home in New York’s East Hampton last year for $4.7 million.
His homes in L.A. and Miami were raided last year as part of the federal sex trafficking investigation against him.
“The properties themselves could be included or referenced in the indictment as a means that served the ends of those alleged crimes, and they could be seized,” Priya Sopori, a partner at Greenberg Glusker and a member of the firm’s litigation group, told Fox News Digital last year.
She added, “In other words, if we were talking about charges that involved sex trafficking, the government would likely ask, ‘Were these properties used to introduce victims of sex trafficking to potential abusers and sex offenders?’”
“Were these properties an effective co-conspirator in these alleged crimes — allowing and facilitating Mr. Combs’ alleged engagement in illegal activities? If so, and if Mr. Combs were to be found guilty of those alleged crimes, then the properties themselves could be seized by the government.”
Along with his properties, Diddy also owns a Gulfstream G550 jet through his LoveAir LLC valued at around $25 million.
The plane was built in 2015, carries 14 passengers and was available to charter following Diddy’s arrest, Business Insider reported last year.
Diddy also owns a luxury car collection, which GigWise estimated to be worth around $1.6 million last year, and includes a $500,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Ferrari 360 Spider, a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder and a Cadillac Escalade.
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Diddy has an extensive art collection, including Kerry James Marshall’s “Past Times” painting, which he purchased at Sotheby’s for $21.1 million in 2018.
His art advisor told artnet.com a year ago, before his arrest, that he had no plans to sell that painting or any others in his collection.
Even the rapper’s businesses, including Bad Boy Records, which he started in 1993, could be seized. The company still makes money through music and publishing rights, but its value has plummeted because of his allegations, according to USA Today.
His other businesses, which all fall under parent company Combs Global, include Combs Wines and Spirits, Revolt Media, Sean John fashion and fragrances brand and his nonprofit, the Sean Combs Foundation.
Diddy sold his majority stake in Revolt Media last year.
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In 2016, Sean John’s annual retail sales totaled $450 million, according to Women’s Wear Daily, but has floundered since then.
Macy’s began selling Sean John’s sportswear collection exclusively in 2010, but started to phase it out by 2023.
“Big box retail stores are always considering what’s relevant and Sean John was no longer remotely popular with consumers. The brand lost its swagger,” Ted Jenkin, president of Exit Stage Left Advisors, told FOX Business last year.
The indictment against Diddy lumps all of his businesses together as the “Combs Business,” saying it includes “among other things, record labels, a recording studio, an apparel line, an alcoholic spirits business, a marketing agency and a television network and media company,” USA Today reported.
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“They’ve written a very broadly worded forfeiture allegation,” James Trusty, a former chief of DOJ’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, told USA Today. “It’s so vague and so broad that I would think the defense would push for a bill of particulars,” or a more specific explanation of what the feds are going after.
The main decline in Diddy’s wealth last year was the end of his partnership with Diageo, an alcoholic beverage company, through his Cîroc vodka after sales began to decline starting in 2014, according to Forbes.
“Anything [Combs] did as an artist probably has lost substantial value, as has his brand,” John Branca, Michael Jackson’s estate attorney, told Forbes.
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Both Casella and Trusty told USA Today that victims could seek a share of any assets seized from Diddy in future lawsuits.
Investigators are also searching for any assets that Diddy may have hidden in an attempt to avoid having them seized.
